Contractors license for ground up construction

[Andrew Jones]

Does anyone know what kind of contractors license I need to do a ground up construction in Davenport Iowa? Also how I can get the contractors license in Davenport Iowa when I am currently out of state? We own a church and a single family home on one parcel in Davenport Iowa. The church building is old and is starting to fall apart, so the property is currently red tagged now. So we would like to separate the parcels so that the single family home has its own parcel and the church has its own parcel. Then we would like to knock down the church and build a duplex on this parcel. We've talked to a few lenders and they told us that we need to have someone with a contractors license to also be on the construction loan with us. We would appreciate any advice or help. Thank you. 

[Andrew Jones]

Quote from @Malcomb Stapel:

@Andrew Jones the lenders are trying to vet you out. Or, more likely, they have vetted you out, and they want some extra insurance on the deal. Think about it if you were in their shoes and lending out money. Are you eager to lend to someone who has never done ground up construction before? I wouldn't be. 

It's not unheard of. I have a friend who did a ground up with a local bank. The lenders came out to his sight and asked him all kinds of questions about his experience, who's doing this that and the other, etc. 

As far as requirement, have you asked them directly what they are looking for? 

Hi Malcomb,

Yes, I had several conversations with the hard money lender and asked the hard money lender directly what they are looking for and got these responses from him:

"...you need to add someone to the loan with construction experience that has been an owner of a property they constructed and not just a builder..."

"...someone that has been on title and that has done a build. if we have that, we have a lot of what we need..."

"we need someone that has ownership in the property that was built..." "we need someone that bought the land and did the build or at least can show that they were full or part owners..."

"They just need to have ownership in a property that was taken from a raw piece of land and made into a new build home. or, it could be a tear down of an existing home and into a new build. basically, we need to be able to go onto the property card and see their name on a new build as owner or see their LLC or an LLC they are part owner of listed as owner."

Did your friend have prior ground up building experience or was it his first ground up project too?